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Viewing 61 - 80 of 184 results
Mar
24th
2017

Random Facts #47 · 1:11pm Mar 24th, 2017

Plant leaves are green due to the chlorophyll they use to absorb sunlight.

Horseshoe crabs have blue blood.

Infrared light ranges through light waves that are lower frequency than the color red.

Similarly, ultraviolet light is just the light that has a higher frequency/shorter wavelength than violet.

Microwaving metal results in sparks.

Popcorn pops due to gases inside the kernel rapidly expanding.

Feb
3rd
2017

Daily Random Fact #3 · 4:04pm Feb 3rd, 2017

The founders of Google used to sleep in their office overnight.

Also, I'm posting this in the 5 minutes I have between classes.

Jun
12th
2017

Random Facts #113 · 11:55pm Jun 12th, 2017

At this point, many game consoles are basically just cool looking boxes with PC/tablet hardware crammed inside with support for controllers.

The Gameboy Advance had a Z80 coprocessor alongside the native ARM CPU to run games meant for the older Gameboy/Gameboy Color.

Similarly, the Nintendo DS line has a low-power ARM coprocessor paired with a more powerful core to retain backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance.

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Feb
24th
2017

Random Facts #22 · 8:11pm Feb 24th, 2017

"Set in stone" doesn't actually mean forever, as stone can still be broken. What you're looking for doesn't exist. Nothing us forever.

Plastic is one of the most durable materials ever creates. Unfortunately, this means that most aren't biodegradable. Instead, they are either melted down and remade, or simply thrown away, polluting the environment.

A 5 megabyte hard drive used to cost tens of thousands in the 70's.

Apr
22nd
2017

Random Facts #73 · 1:02am Apr 22nd, 2017

Minecraft was originally named "Cave Game", but then was renamed to "Minecraft: Order of the Stone", before being changed yet again to just plain Minecraft.

The creeper model in Minecraft was originally a botched Pig model.

The End dimension in Minecraft contains code for a cancelled "Sky" dimension, which generated nothing but floating islands, and only existed in Indev.

Emeralds were originally coded to be Rubies, but were then retextured because Dinnerbone was colorblind.

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Mar
19th
2017

Random Facts #42 · 6:03pm Mar 19th, 2017

According to certain studies, the internal clocks of our bodies are actually set to behave according to a 25-hour day.
Source: Human Biological Clock Set Back an Hour. (Created 1999, Harvard University)

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Mar
7th
2017

Random Facts #31 · 8:08pm Mar 7th, 2017

The Neanderthals likely existed at the same time as modern humans before being driven to extinction.

Walt Disney was once called boring and uncreative by his former employer.

The reason why Chiclet gum is called that is because naturally occurring gum in the wild is called chicle.

Around 99% of the Earth's water is unusable for drinking or irrigation.

The oldest stars in the universe are also the smallest and coolest.

The Titanic was ironically called the "unsinkable ship".

Apr
21st
2017

Random Facts #72 · 2:06am Apr 21st, 2017

Black holes have such a strong gravitational pull, that even light can't escape them.

There is evidence that there may be a star even denser than Neutron Stars - Quark Stars.

Quark Stars are theoretical stars that have such a high gravitational pull that the Neutrons normally found in a Neutron Star are further crushed down into the particles that make up neutrons. Namely, Quarks.

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Mar
3rd
2017

Random Facts #28 · 9:19pm Mar 3rd, 2017

The "lead" in pencils is actually a mixture of clay and graphite.

Speaking of pencil lead, if you put a piece in an airtight jar, or better yet, a vacuum chamber, and connect a 12 volt power supply or battery to it, it'll glow a bright yellow-red. (Congrats for building a lightbulb and not burn your fingers off!)

There are ancient books that have been discovered to be bound using human skin.

Mar
2nd
2017

Random Facts #26 · 12:45am Mar 2nd, 2017

Nearly forgot to post this today. :facehoof:

Bill Gates may eventually become the world's first trillionaire.

The Commodore 64 is very well known for it's famed SID chip, used in the creation of "8-bit" style music.

Pocket calculators have more computational power than the ENIAC supercomputer, which was one of the first ever truly digital computers.

Feb
25th
2017

Random Facts #23 · 11:56pm Feb 25th, 2017

AMD and Intel once shared the same CPU socket... Until Intel got snarky and made Intel-only sockets.

In some organisms, blood is blue due to the iron normally found in blood cells being replaces by copper.

Most light guns/light pens no longer work with modern displays, as they used various quirks of old CRT screens to pinpoint their location.

Cars, up until around 1950-1960, often lacked seat belts simply because they weren't required back then.

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Apr
10th
2017

Random Facts #62 · 11:10pm Apr 10th, 2017

Gatorade was formulated by a group of school nurses to treat the local team's problems with dehydration.

There is a difference between Mainframes and Supercomputers. Supercomputers may and often are made of hundreds of networked units built to run extremely complex computations, while Mainframes are designed to be compact, single-module solutions meant to process small, easy-to-solve processes and data storage for everyday application in businesses.

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Apr
29th
2017

Random Facts #78??? · 11:34pm Apr 29th, 2017

I've been pretty busy for the past couple days, so sorry if I missed yesterday's post. I forgot, andy phone doesn't seem to let me check.

Granite is mildly radioactive.

Housing insulation was once made with asbestos, but production of insulation using it was halted due to the respiratory problems that arose from handling them.

Compressing shale will convert it into slate.

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Feb
2nd
2017

Should I start a daily blog about random facts? · 1:44am Feb 2nd, 2017

And if so, random fact: For a while pencils didn't come with erasers because teachers thought that they'd encourage mistakes.

May
29th
2017

Random Facts #103 - late night I should probably go to bed edition · 5:05am May 29th, 2017

Blue light is known for making it harder to sleep, which is why recent updates to certain phones, tablets, and computers now include a "night mode" that gives the screen an orange-yellowish tint.

Even now, there is no conclusive idea as to what dreams are, or what their function is.

Additionally, there isn't any solid theory as to why sleep is required.

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May
11th
2017

Random Facts #88 · 3:56am May 11th, 2017

For a while, pencils didn't have erasers, because it was believed that erasers would encourage mistakes.

Pen caps contain small holes in them to prevent suffocation if they're accidentally lodged somewhere.

Pencils are typically made of softwood, not hardwood.

Technically, it's possible to make pencils out of any fibrous material, including fabrics and strands of plastic.

The Apple Pencil is not meant to be sharpened.

May
13th
2017

Random Facts #90 · 3:04am May 13th, 2017

Lead is a very well known heavy-metal toxin.

Arsenic, also toxic, was once used in many household items.

Cadmium, similarly to the previous two elements, is toxic as well, and was once found commonly in paint, and more recently rechargeable batteries. Though, most rechargeable batteries today are either nickel-metal hydride, lithium-ion, or lead.

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Feb
21st
2017

Random Facts #19 · 3:04pm Feb 21st, 2017

Geore Washington didn't associate with any specific political party, as he feared that parties may drive the US into chaos. Look at us now.

Comcast is literally a business empire, and yet they pay no attention to customer service.

The Intel Core series of processors were based directly upon the Pentium 3, not 4. Why? The Pentium 4 ran several times hotter, using a highly inefficient architecture compared to the Pentium 3.

DOS was originally a clone of CP/M.

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Mar
31st
2017

Random Facts #52 + 53 · 12:14pm Mar 31st, 2017

Idaho is not, in fact, made of potatoes. Even though I DID eat freshly-made chips for dinner at a restaurant yesterday.

Verizon owns Yahoo.

Yahoo uses Bing as its search engine.


I'm really tired right now, so that's all.

Apr
3rd
2017

Random Facts #56 · 7:48pm Apr 3rd, 2017

The telephone was once called a "Gimmick", and Alexander Graham Bell was told that nobody would ever use it. Look at us now.

AT&T/Bell Labs and National Geographic are two of the best-known companies that were owned, operated, and/or influenced directly by Bell.

It's possible to use copper oxide to create semiconductors. Specifically, diodes for AM/crystal radios.

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Viewing 61 - 80 of 184 results